Committee to examine complaints about PU biology paper

Students have complained that the questions were unusually tough

The Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) has formed a three-member committee to look into complaints regarding the second pre-university biology examination that was held on Thursday.

After the exam, officials were flooded with emails and calls on the helpline from students who said that the question paper was extremely difficult. Students have demanded grace marks. Many have written to the department urging them to conduct a re-examination as a large number of students tend to fail in biology.

P.C. Jaffer, Director of DPUE, said that the committee comprising subject experts will review the question paper to see if the complaints are valid.

A lecturer with a pre-university college in Bengaluru said that a student’s biology scores are particularly important in the Common Entrance Test (CET) for certain professional courses.

However, the department has not received complaints that questions were out of syllabus. “If there are questions that were out of syllabus, then we will allot grace marks if students have attempted those questions. But we cannot be lenient in evaluating the answer scripts if the paper was difficult,” said Mr. Jaffer.